Hill and Billins Named 2011-12 Ferris State Hockey Captains

May 14, 2011

A pair of senior defensemen - Tommy
Hill (Portage/Northern) and Chad
Billins (Marysville) have been named captains for
the 2011-12 Ferris State University men's ice hockey team in a
recent announcement made by Bulldog head coach Bob
Daniels.

With their appointments, Hill and Billins represent the 40th and
41st student-athletes in Ferris State's men's ice hockey history to
wear the honored captain's 'C' on their game jersey.

"Chad (Billins) and Tommy (Hill) epitomize the standards that we
hold for Bulldog Hockey Players," said Daniels, who will begin
his 20th year at Ferris State this 2011-12 season. "Both
players work hard not only on the ice, but in the classroom, the
weightroom, and hte community. We look forward to their
service to the program."

Hill received the 2010-11 team's Blue Line Competitive
Award as a result of being the Bulldogs' top competitor on a
daily basis from off-ice conditioning, practice, and games as voted
on by his teammates. The 6-5, 215-pound skater appeared in
five games for the 2010-11 campaign.

As a sophomore in 2009-10, Hill was a co-recipient of the
squad's Steve Banonis Memorial Most Improved Player
Award after blocking 16 opponent shots in a career season-high
21 appearances.

Billins, who was tabbed as FSU's Central Collegiate Hockey
Association (CCHA) Scholar-Athlete of the Year representative
for the 2010-11 season, turned in his most
productive campaign with career highs in points (16),
goals (five), assists (11), game-winning goals (three), and
power-play lamplighters (three) for 39 2010-11 outings.
The 5-10, 175-pound blueliner concluded 2010-11 ranking tied for
fifth in team overall scoring and second among Bulldog defensemen
in points. He chalked up a team fourth-most
tying 11 helpers in 2010-11 and had produced at least a point
in 14 contests, which included a pair of two-point efforts in the
season opener at Alabama-Huntsville (Oct. 7) with two goals and two
assists at Bowling Green State (Jan. 7). Billins was
also recognized as the CCHA's Defenseman of the Week
twice (Oct. 11 and Nov. 29) this past season.

For his FSU career, Billins has compiled 38 points on
10 goals and 28 assists in 106 games to date. He has tallied
four power-play goals, one short-handed marker, and three
game-winning lamplighters to go along with 124 blocked shots,
which included 53 deflections for the 2010-11
campaign.

Both Hill and Billins helped Ferris State post an 18-16-5
overall record for the 2010-11 season, which included a fifth-place
12-12-4-3 CCHA mark (43 league points). The 18 wins generated
by the Bulldogs represented a tie for the eighth-most
single-season victories in the program's history.

Prior to Hill and Billins, the last time Ferris State featured
co-captains was in the 1999-00 season when defensemen Jim
Dube and Gary Ricciardi were bestowed with the noteworthy
honor.